anhaltenvsaushaltenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“anhalten” and “aushalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,139
“anhalten” frequency rank
#8,170
“aushalten” frequency rank
17309
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anhalten aushalten
Definition jemanden zu etwas ermahnen eine unangenehme Situation ertragen oder ertragen können

Where the eye mixes anhalten and aushalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. anhalten runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against aushalten's 9 (VVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
anhalten
9 ch
aushalten

Why the eye confuses anhalten with aushalten

A purely visual mix-up. anhalten ([ˈanˌhaltn̩]) and aushalten ([ˈaʊ̯sˌhaltn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anhalten is recorded at frequency rank #9,139, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhaltn̩]. aushalten is at rank #8,170, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌhaltn̩].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 17309, this pair ranks #1,928,519 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anhalten vs aushalten

Shared letters: aehlnt. Private to "anhalten": -. Private to "aushalten": su.

"anhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "aushalten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anhalten ← ahnalten · anahlten · anhaletn · anhallten · anhaltenn · anhaltne · anhaltten · anhatlen
  • aushalten ← asuhalten · auhsalten · ausahlten · aushaletn · aushallten · aushaltenn · aushaltne · aushaltten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anhalten" and "aushalten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌhaltn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "anhalten" vs "aushalten" - which ranks higher?
"aushalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,170 in our German list, against #9,139 for "anhalten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aushalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,928,519 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anhalten" and "aushalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anhalten vs anschalten". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,928,519 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list